A problem with legacy heroes

In theory, I don't have a problem with legacy heroes--by which I mean the custom of having more than one hero with the same name. I'm more than capable of enjoying (for example) Alan Scott, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, as well as many other Green Lanterns. (Granted that the Green Lantern corps structure makes GL an easily-legacied role.) It can be a little clumsy, as I think they've even recognized in the comics themselves (when Wildcat's son was introduced, he and his dad had a little discussion about codenames where Wildcat assumed they'd just both go by Wildcat), but generally it's apparent from the context. Well, okay, so one guy in a Flash suit looks pretty much like any other guy in a Flash suit. But it's not a huge problem for me.

However, it can be a problem when the "legacies" are seen less as characters themselves than as adjuncts of older characters. It can make them automatically second-tier heroes purely because they came later. It doesn't have to do this. However.

This interview with Dan Didio has a few statements that make me a little uneasy. Here are a couple of bits from it:

One of the things that we’re doing right now is that we’re looking through our list of character’s origins and are finding what we think is the clearest interpretation and the one that’s the easiest to explain. That way, we can carry on with their stories without getting bogged down with all the continuity that put other characters in their place.

What I’m basically saying is that the defining origin is the one. Think of the Flash – you don’t know Wally or Bart’s origin without Barry’s first. You don’t know Kyle or Guy’s origin without understanding Hal’s origin first.

and then there's this one:

11. So there’s still a role for the second generation characters who took the role while their mentors were not in it?

DD: There will be an enormous role for them moving forward. There’s a big role for them now – Kyle is in Green Lantern Corps, so he’s never been marginalized; Wally and Connor, and even Cassandra Cain will be appearing throughout the year, and will be seen in roles where they really have a chance to shine.

Or be dragged through the mud, depending on how you approach it.

Now, I'm of an age where, by rights, I ought to be a Hal/Barry era fan. However, since I was almost wholly a Marvel girl in my formative years and didn't really get into DC until much later, I am in fact a Kyle/Wally era fan. I've tried to like Hal--well, I don't dislike him, but I just can't muster the interest in the character to want to buy his book. (I'd buy John, I'd buy Guy, I'd buy Kyle. Just can't want to read about Hal enough to spend money on him.) And I do get to see Kyle and Guy in GLC, which is something.

But I don't understand why it is that the Golden Age and Silver Age (and modern) incarnations of these characters seem to be able to coexist with no problems, but the existence of the Silver Age characters seems to preclude any spotlight on the later ones.